How to prepare for ‘Het Basisexamen Inburgering Buitenland’ part 3: KNS

It’s time to take the Basisexamen Inburgering Buitenland. But where to begin in your preparations? In this series of blogs I will give you the most important tips for how to prepare for the Basisexamen Inburgering Buitenland. 

In part one of this series you can read about the reading part of the exam, in part two about the speaking part.

In the last part of this series, I will discuss the part of the exam called Knowledge of Dutch Society (Kennis Nederlandse Maatschappij, KNS) 

The Knowledge of Dutch Society 

The Knowledge of Dutch Society part of the exam is about the Netherlands and how people in the Netherlands interact with each other and what the rules are in the Netherlands.

But what can you expect when you take this exam?

The exam: The Knowledge of Dutch Society

In this exam you will get 30 questions. You will hear and read each question which comes with a picture. With every question you should choose one correct answer out of a choice of two.

The questions in the exam cover 7 topics:

  1. The Netherlands: the country (geography), living and transport
  2. History
  3. The government (state), voting (democracy) and legislation
  4. The Dutch language and the importance of learning it
  5. Education
  6. Healthcare
  7. Work and income

 To give you an impression about what kind of question you can expect here is an example for each topic.

  1. Welk land ligt ten zuiden van Nederland? Which country is to the south of the Netherlands?
  2. Hoe lang bestaat de Nederlandse staat ongeveer, vijftig jaar of vierhonderd jaar? How long has the Dutch state existed, about fifty years or four hundred years?
  3. Zijn de kranten, radio en televisie vrij in hun mening? Are the newspapers, radio and television free to express their opinions?
  4. Is het belangrijk om snel Nederlands te leren? Is it important to learn Dutch quickly?
  5. Gaan alle kinderen vanaf twaalf jaar naar hetzelfde soort onderwijs, of zijn er twee richtingen? Do all children get the same type of education from the age of twelve, or are there two possible routes?
  6. Als u ziek wordt, waar gaat u dan naar toe? Naar de huisarts of naar het ziekenhuis? If you get sick, where do you go? To the GP or to the hospital?
  7. Waar is steeds minder werk te vinden: in de industrie of in de zorg? In which sector is less work to be found: in industry or in healthcare?

How to prepare?

So how can you prepare for these topics and questions?

  1. Online Dutch Course on learndutch

In my Online Dutch Course you can find videos about these different topics. In each video you will not only learn about these aspects of the Netherlands, but you will also learn the Dutch words.

There are also additional exercises where you can see if you have understood the information in the video.

  1. Read into the topics

You’re not the first person to take this exam. There is a lot of information to be found online about possible questions and experiences of other people.

I would advise you to look carefully at the source. I recommend the information that you can find on the official website of the IND and government.

Good luck!

This is my final blog in a series of blogs about your preparation for the Basisexamen Inburgering Buitenland. If you read them carefully and pay good attention to the tips, you should be all right for the exam!

Veel success met de examens (Good luck with the exams!)

More information

You can find more information on the Basisexamen Inburgering Buitenland on the official website of the IND and government.

Bart de Pau
online Dutch teacher & founder of the Dutch Summer School & Dutch Winter School